Outcome and mortality of hospital admission with COVID-19 for individuals with parkinsonian syndromes

Abstract

<jats:sec><jats:title>Objective</jats:title><jats:p>To evaluate features of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and atypical Parkinson’s syndromes (APS) associated with poor outcome and mortality in people with COVID-19 in a hospital setting.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Background</jats:title><jats:p>Previous studies have demonstrated increased mortality of COVID-19 in people with PD. However, it is not known whether this is associated with disease-related factors (eg autonomic dysfunc- tion, dysphagia).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>An online survey tool captured anonymised patient data from hospital admission records of people with PD and APS who tested positive for COVID-19 between February 2020 and July 2021. We will use Cox proportional hazards and linear regression models to evaluate which characteristics are associ- ated with mortality, increased care requirement and more severe COVID-19 infection. Models will be adjusted for known associations with poor outcome, such as co-morbidities, age and sex.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Data were collected from 556 admissions from 21 UK sites: 66.2% male; median (IQR) age 80 (11) years; median disease duration 5 (7) years. 19.2% were asymptomatic, 28.8% had mild symptoms and 52.5% required respiratory support. 38.3% died within 4 weeks of a positive COVID-19 test. Preliminary Kaplan-Meier curves suggest that co-existing dementia, marked motor fluctuations and more advanced Hoehn and Yahr stage may be associated with 28-day mortality. Full statistical analysis is in progress.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p>Identification of Parkinson’s features associated with poor in-hospital COVID-19 outcome will allow a more informed discussion relating to individual COVID-19 risk.</jats:p></jats:sec>